1. Technical Field
This invention relates to distributed computer services, particularly computer services having online forums.
2. Background Information
An online forum is a communications interchange in which people may communicate with others through successive electronic transmissions between respective computer systems. An online forum, or any other type of distributed computer services, may be implemented on a distributed computer system such as that shown in FIG. 1. Forum participants (equivalently, users of the computer services) typically are scattered across a large geographical area and communicate with one or more central server systems 100 through respective client systems 102 (e.g., a personal or laptop computer). In practice, the server system 100 typically will not be a single monolithic entity but rather will be a network of interconnected server computers, possibly physically dispersed from each other, each dedicated to its own set of duties and/or to a particular geographical region. In such a case, the individual servers are interconnected by a network of communication links, in known fashion. One such server system is xe2x80x9cAmerica Onlinexe2x80x9d from America Online Incorporated of Virginia.
Each client system 102 runs client software that allows it to communicate in a meaningful manner with corresponding software running on the server system 100. The client systems 102 communicate with the server system 100 through various channels, such as a modem 104 connected to a telephone line 106 or a direct Internet connection using a transfer protocol such as TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). The server system 100 is responsible for receiving input from the client systems 102, manipulating the collective body of input information (and possibly information from other sources) into a useful format, and retransmitting the formatted information back to one or more clients 102 for output on an output device, such as a display screen.
Referring to FIG. 2, one type of forum is a xe2x80x9cchat roomxe2x80x9d 200, in which the various participants 204 (e.g., xe2x80x9cAllens9,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cJOSHUAALEX,xe2x80x9d etc.) may enter text which appears in a scrolling text window 202 on each participant""s computer display screen. In the example in FIG. 2, the chat room 200 has 22 participants whose identities (or xe2x80x9cscreen namesxe2x80x9d) are listed in a scrolling window 210. A participant 204 may respond to the comment of another participant 204 by entering a line of text in an edit box 206 and activating (e.g., by clicking with a pointer device, such as a mouse) a SEND button 208. In response, the text in the scrolling text window 202 scrolls upwards and the newly entered line of text is displayed at the bottom of the scrolling text window 202. In the illustrated example, the last participant to enter a comment was JOSHUAALEX, who typed xe2x80x9cTEXAS.xe2x80x9d
The chat room 200 shown in FIG. 2 is xe2x80x9cpublicxe2x80x9d, meaning that it has multiple participants who were placed in the chat room by the computer-service provider and who most likely never have met or conversed with one another before. A comment by a participant in a public forum may be seen by all of the participants of the chat room. If a participant desires some privacy, that participant may xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d and enter a xe2x80x9cprivatexe2x80x9d chat room (for example, by clicking on a SETUP button 212), and thereafter invite one or more other participants to enter the private chat room. Once in a private forum, participants may communicate with one another without fear that uninvited participants will be able to see their comments.
When a participant in a forum, whether public or private, makes a comment that others in the forum regard as offensive, in poor taste, wildly incorrect, or otherwise objectionable, the offending participant most likely will be xe2x80x9cflamedxe2x80x9d by one or more of the other participants. A xe2x80x9cflamexe2x80x9d is a reprimand or other stringent response directed at the offending party. One purpose behind flaming another participant is to dissuade the offender, through embarrassment or intimidation, from making further objectionable comments. In this manner, if the offending user chooses to curb his or her behavior in response to the flaming, a forum may be crudely regulated or xe2x80x9cpolicedxe2x80x9d by the forum""s participants. However, the offending participant may continue to behave in an objectionable manner. Further, a participant who overly xe2x80x9cflamesxe2x80x9d other participants may also be objectionable. Accordingly, participant policing of forums does not always work well. In such cases, offended participants may drop out of xe2x80x9cflame-filledxe2x80x9d forums, and/or the online service must devote resources to actively police problematic participants.
Other objectionable behavior includes sending one or more messages to xe2x80x9cspoofxe2x80x9d other users as to the sender""s identity in order to try to get confidential information (e.g., credit card numbers or passwords) sent in response (sometimes called xe2x80x9cpassword fishingxe2x80x9d).
Another problem that can arise in online systems is xe2x80x9cresource hoggingxe2x80x9d, where a participant uses features such as broadcast or multi-cast messaging to send a large number of messages to other users in a short period of time (sometimes called xe2x80x9cspammingxe2x80x9d). Such resource hogging deprives other users of server resources, and can slow an online system response time to undesirable levels.
Accordingly, the inventor has determined that there is a need for a better way to police recalcitrant participants in online forums and to reduce spamming. The present invention provides a method and means for accomplishing this goal.
The invention provides a method and means for self-policing and automatically rate-limiting multiple-user online forums. The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a set of rules that permit users to censure other users. A censured user has one or more xe2x80x9cprivilegesxe2x80x9d (which may include access to the online computer system or the effective message rate of a communications connection) taken away or diminished; the privilege is gradually restored if the censured user behaves. The censuring participant and other pertinent participants are notified of the effect of the censuring on the censured user. In another aspect of the invention, the online computer system automatically tracks the rate at which a user sends certain types of messages, and can message rate limit a user who uses too many system resources by sending a large number of messages in rapid succession. The amount of rate limiting may be a function of the amount of censure that has been applied to the user being limited.
Advantages of this invention may include one or more of the following. The techniques described here enable a multiple-user online service (e.g., a chat room or other forum) to be self-policing. Access to the computer service for a particular user is automatically regulated by the computer based on input from other users concerning the conduct of the user under consideration, or based on the message rate of a user. Users of a computer-based system have the ability to sanction a misbehaving user and thereby have the offending user""s access to the system denied or curtailed. Unlike the conventional xe2x80x9cflamingxe2x80x9d approach to policing, which typically fails because it relies on the misbehaving user curbing his or her own behavior or results in retaliatory xe2x80x9cflamingxe2x80x9d, the policing techniques described here are based on predetermined rules and operate automatically in response to votes cast by other users of the computer system. The offending user has no choice in the matter once he or she chooses to misbehave. Because the operation of these policing techniques are automatic, the computer-based service provider need not expend personnel time and resources to police public forums, direct user communications, and the like.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.